Piper the Thief
by The Suburban Coyote
Summary: Drifter, homeless, street performer... Mutant. Piper, a young thief travelling alone, accidentally attracts the attention of the X-men. Disguised as a young boy, and not at all willing to join the group, how will she continue to run from her past? KxOC
1. Chapter 1

Piper Williams opened her eyes in the back of a fruit truck.

It took a moment to remember where she was, but the memory of crawling aboard earlier that day soon returned, along with the powerful scent of apples.

_Ooh, lunch._

She took a second to grope in the dim light for her pack. When she found it, she took the time to load a half dozen of the bright, green-yellow fruit inside for later. Who knows when she'd get another free score? What with modern security, it was difficult to pull off a decent food grab without being noticed, even with the benefit of her mutation.

Clipping the leather straps of the old bag tightly closed, Piper reached out for another apple with a thinly muscled arm. Finding an unbruised fruit that met her standards, she bit into the waxy skin with ravenous satisfaction. She enjoyed the meal to it's fullest, not caring enough to wipe away the sweet-sour juice that dribbled down her chin. What was a little more dirt? She'd wash up at the next public washroom she found, and there wasn't much she'd be able to do until then. On the topic of grime, what town was she sucking this time around?

Not bothering to be quiet over the rumble of tires, Piper crawled over the sticky crates to the back of the trailer and pushed up the back door a few inches to peek underneath.

What met her gaze was a simple asphalt road, and a long strip of suburbanite shops and houses. There was a great lurch as the truck began to turn into a driveway, stopping at a great high wrought-iron fence.

She sighed in disappointment. She was hoping to stop downtown, but it seemed she'd have to walk. There was a quiet thunk and the scraping of metal, and she was standing on the sidewalk, watching the white-walled delivery truck roll up to the front door of a very large, well-decorated mansion. Gracing the front yard, twisting across a marble block in soft, curly-Q letters, was the proclaimation, "Proffessor Xaviers Acadamy for Gifted Youngsters", in large black letters.

_Oh, joy. This sort of town._ She groaned inwardly.

_Posh mansions, private schools, upper-class suburbia… Panhandling is probably illegal here._

Still, she had been doing it for years, and was good at it by now. It was easier when she was little, though. People used to be eager to dish out free goods to a short, wide-eyed, lispy twelve-year old, but now that she was older, everyone who saw her at a street corner would assume she was a prostitute.

_As if. No, thank-you, I'll stick to panhandling._

Over time, she'd learned that most of the downtown shoppers were girls or women, and they were usually much more sympathetic around cute young guys.

Soon after that little epiphany, her long tawny-grey hair was cut off and a costume was found, a pair of baggy green army pants and a loose grey sweater with the sleeves cut off at the elbows. After that, being flat-chested wasn't very concerning to her self-image.

A single-strapped scrappy leather bag, her last reminder of her past, was always slung over her arm. It contained all her worldly posessions. A jackknife, a box of pencils, a notebook, minor toiletries, a squashed box of band-aids, a sewing needle and yellow thread, an extra change of clothes. Anything else she needed was 'found'.

Piper shook her head, willing herself out of her trance. She had no time to daydream. There was money to be made.

A good hour later, the ground at her feet was littered with coins from the crowd that had gathered to watch her performance. Apples, up to seven of them, floated upwards and downwards to be plucked from the air with the greatest of ease. Children and women watched in awe as she juggled, absolutely mesmerized by the whimsical display. Sometimes she used rocks, or garbage, and on occasion the money people tossed for her to catch and work with, but today her tools were apples. A blushing teenage girl dropped a five-dollar bill, but Piper didn't notice. She was as transfixed as the crowd. She didn't even notice the money at her feet. It was a glorious escape. The juggling had nothing to do with her mutation. It wasn't something people had taught her. It wasn't something everyone else could do. To Piper, it was something unique, something that she and she alone could do, without cheating with powers or leaning on someone else as a crutch. As she juggled, her body took over, cutting her mind loose to drift. As it drifted and floated with the apples, she began to work her true powers. They would be needed to attract REAL attention.

Without thinking coherently, without using fully-formed ideas or words, she drew the crowd closer, as if pulling them all in with ethereal arms. To the passersby, she sent out a wave of feelings and picture-thoughts.

_Calm,_ they said. _Soothing, warm. Curled up under a blanket, rain on the roof. Fresh-baked bread. Listening to mommy read to you while you fall asleep. The smell of lilacs in the summer garden. A frog-pond in the sunset. Calafornia poppies._

_Acting subconsciously, the shoppers and buisnessmen began to drift towards her, transfixed by the soothing thoughts and carefree memories provided by the twirling display of the apples._

_Piper's misty eyes were blank, but behind them, she was just as entranced as the people watching._

_She didn't even notice the tall, blond, razor-clawed Neanderthal of a man that had stopped in mid-snarl to watch her show._

…_..._

_Nobody ever actually responds to first-chapter story pleas, but could you please? It makes my day so much better. Please Review?_

_REVIEW. OR FACE DISCONTINUATION. I DON'T CARE IF IT'S A FLAME OR A LIKE. PLEASE?_


	2. Chapter 2

Twisting, twisting, jumping falling floating. Hunting with the pack, warm summer nights, the scent of prey in the winter wind. Lofty cedar boughs drooping over springy forest ground. Sabertooth stared in vague amazement, eyes blind, at Piper's soothing performance.

What had he been doing before? What had been so important? He could not remember. No, he could. It just... Wasn't important right now. He felt so warm, so secure. Like a yearling pup napping in the shade of a leafy tree on a hot, sunny afternoon by the lake. He wanted at that moment, more than anything, to curl up and snuggle in with the pack for a rest after a long hunt. He smiled dreamily, but his euphoria fell slightly at the slowly descending shift in mood.

In his mind, the pleasing scents and feelings dimmed, faded, turned numb, and began to veer off into sadness. The forest, mowed down to make space for a shopping plaza. Dead frogs floating in sludge, Brine and bile in a seedy alley. When a powerful force tackled him to the gritty asphalt, he didn't even try to get back up, not even when a trio of adamant claws appeared at his neck. Tears ran down his face as he stared into the blue sky, until an iron fist sent him sprawling into the darkness.

Kurt watched from a distance, confused. He had been following Sabertooth openly, together with Logan, Jean, and Scott, until the huge man began to drift downtown. Then, the blue mutant separated from the group to trail along between the buildings. Downtown was always crowded on weekends, and he didn't have his holowatch on. Sure, nobody would be able to recognize him in his true form, but it was a nice day out, and he had really just wanted to catch up with Logan without starting a mass panic. It would be nice to be able to grab a nap later on. However, as he followed Logan and Sabertooth down main street, something strange happened. Right in front of a small store, in the middle of a large gathering of people, Sabertooth stopped running. Logan quickly knocked him to the ground, but the large man just lay on the ground. In fact, it almost looked as if he was crying. What on earth was wrong with him? Had he given up?

Somehow, he doubted that possibility. He had tried to break into the main floor of the mansion. No way was he just going to give up without a fight. There was all of a sudden a collective applause from the crowd, and Kurt's ears pricked up. For a moment, he wondered if the cheer was for Logan, but it was soon snuffed out at the sight of a single person bowing in the center of the crowd.

_Probably a street performer, by the looks of him._

This was confirmed when a hail of quarters and nickels fell at his feet as the crowd dispersed. Scott had caught up with Logan, and was currently hiding with him in an alley across the road, waiting patiently for Jean.

Noting the enthusiasm of the departing audience, Kurt felt almost disappointed that he had missed the show. This sort of town never seemed to get performers. Still, there was something odd about the boy that he just couldn't place. To the eye, the boy was almost entirely plain, with short brown hair and loose pants that seemed completely natural to his character. He looked just like any other teenager from school. It was something about the way he... Felt. Probably just his imagination, but... Yes, he'd better check it out.

_'Jean!'_

He sent out the mental cry, and was answered by her questioning response.

_I need to check something out. When you catch up with Herr Logan and Scott, tell them to go on ahead, alright?_

He felt her affirmation, and swished his tail tiredly. The odd boy finished collecting the last few pennies, wrapped them up in a shirt, and put them in a raggedy bundle in his bag. He then turned around, and disappeared into the narrow space between two small buildings, walking sideways to maneuver through the tight space.

Kurt sighed wearily. It looked like he wasn't going to get the nap he'd been hoping for.

Piper curved past the last corner and sighed contentedly. She had earned a fairly good haul, she might be able to pick up some new clothes later on. Perhaps even some _new_ ones, if she managed to find someone willing to bargain. Of course, the flip side would be that she'd have to wait a few days before performing again. Otherwise, people might get suspicious. She ad been kicked out of places before for being careless; she didn't want a repeat of the scenario.

_Never again_, she swore. _Never again will I perform in the same town as a circus. _

Carnies were too quick to pick up on other people's tricks, and they hadn't been to kind about losing their customers to a homeless scam.

Piper may be many things, but she wasn't stupid. She learned from her mistakes.

Finally coming across an untouched pile of garbage bins, Piper set down her bag and rooted through one until she came across a crunched-up roll of cardboard. Junk to some, a nice mat for her. She crossed her legs and leaned back, landing gracefully on the makeshift bed with a soft _fump._ Overhead, a long brick path up the wall led up to the cloudy-blue sky. She sailed with it in her mind, drifting away from the dirty asphalt and noisy traffic. It was nice to just lay there, pretending she was back in the country. The air in the city always made her feel sick. And there was always something loud going on.

Piper closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.

It was one of those things she didn't particularly like or hate about cities. There was always something going on, and it was almost always…

_***SssshBUMP.***_

…_**Unexpected.**_

_**Okay, I really hated the ending here. What about you? Like? Hate? Let me know! **_


	3. Chapter 3

The boy stared wide-eyed, hardly moving an inch. Up above, muscles tight and joints locked in place, Kurt smiled down sheepishly from between two high alley walls.

Inwardly, he was quite pleased that he had remembered to activate his holowatch. If the boy below was this surprised now, he could just picture the expression he would display if he had forgotten.

An awkward silence passed, and he grew uncomfortable.

"You know zat eet is illegal to beg here?"

The silence broke, and a quirky smile lifted the edge of the boy's lips.

"I'd better be careful then, I wouldn't want to be locked in a heated room with free food and indoor plumbing."

His voice was slightly higher than Kurt had expected, and had a nearly indistinguishable lilt to it, pulling out the I's just a little too long.

"Oh," mumbled Kurt, jumping down.

The other boy stood abruptly, shouldering his bag as he did so. A light _clink_ indicated his day's earnings, however little it was.

"So, do you do not exactly live nearby?"

"You could say that."

His hand crept closer to his hip defensively, and the German made sure to keep in mind what was likely to be the location of a weapon.

"Meine name is Kurt Wagner. Who are you?"

He paused for a second in thought.

"Name's Piper. I gotta go."

As the boy turned to leave, Kurt grabbed onto his sleeve in protest, but quickly sidestepped as the shifting metallic _shik_ of a knife sounded.

"Hands to yourself," Piper hissed, backing away. "I can walk fine on my own."

"Sorry, I just vanted to say that if you need a place to stay, zhere is a place across town zhat vill give you a room for avhile. Check it out sometime, if you need to."

The other boy nodded warily, and straightened out of his defensive position.

"Really? I might check it out. What's it called?"

"Xavier's institute. Ask for zhe Professor. He vill let you in."

"Sure…"

"It vhas nice meeting you."

The X-man smiled, and began to walk away, feeling a light twinge of disappointment when his new acquaintance didn't follow. He hated to leave a guy with nowhere to go.

Behind, piper stared vacantly at Kurt's disappearing figure, musing over the new possibilities.

_Maybe I will take a visit…._

_Damn, I hated that chapter. Awkward, stumbly, and way too short. Still, a transition chapter. Lemme know if you hate, support if you like! It keeps me going. :P_


	4. Chapter 4

"So, vhat do you think, professor?"

The bald man behind the desk leaned forwards, resting his elbows on the oak.

"I think, Kurt, that if what you feel about this boy is true, then I shall prepare a room. There have been some strange patterns showing up on cerebro, and I have a feeling that this is the mutant I have been expecting."

_Oh lovely. He sounds like a maitre'd. What kind of fruitcake establishment is this?_

Piper looked in through the third story window, tightly gripping the boughs of a tall chestnut tree.

Piqued by the boy 'Kurt's offer, she had retraced her steps back to the large building that she had seen earlier. After scouting the grounds, it was apparent that the institute really was a humongous dorm for so-called 'gifted students' as they put it. However, after listening in on a few less-than-discreet conversations between students and teachers, it still seemed like something was off. According to a large, grumpy, black-haired man, some guy named after an extinct mammal had run off, a cheesy magician's assistant was doing impersonations in town, and a mutated frog smelled bad.

Maybe 'gifted' was code or something for 'mentally confused'? It sure seemed that way.

_Still, free food… tempting offer._

Now, the weirdo acrobat guy from earlier was discussing their encounter in the alley with an old guy who appeared to be a practicing circus psychic.

_Can you say 'nut jobs'?_

Even the yard! She had nearly broken her neck getting over the fence, and it almost looked like there was lasers installed in the sprinkler system.

_They totally owe me new pants._

Her old grey-green cargos had been christened with a pair of impressive circular burn holes. Still, she couldn't exactly vocalize her complaints. At least it hadn't hit her legs.

This was a whole bag of crazy that Piper didn't want to jump into just yet.

Shaking out of her thoughts, the young woman returned her focus to the conversation taking place indoors.

However, while she had been thinking, the room inside had gone silent.

The wind had blown the branches into the window and, in alarm, baldy and acrobat had turned towards it.

Directly where she was perched.

And oh looky, big scary funky-hair guy was back.

With-…

…-kitchen knife knuckles.

_Alright, time to go._

A drop, a roll, a flip and a jump later, Piper was running full-tilt across the vast yard, an angry Canadian and his German sidekick tearing away behind her.

At that particular point, Piper Williams would have loved to say that she had thought of something witty and poignant, but in all honesty, the only thoughts in her mind from the tree to the edge of the forest was

__.

After that, she dodged and twisted as best as she could to avoid obstacles with her thin body, only occasionally looking back to her pursuers.

She didn't see much from her glimpses, but as far as she could tell, Mr. Scissorhands had some serious anger management issues to go with his hair, and Deutschboy was, unless she was mistaken, somehow managing to teleport between trees as he ran.

_Who the hell ARE these guys?_

Gasping, she turned again, and spun out of the way just in time to dodge a trio of razor-sharp claws swinging towards her shoulder.

They made a solid _Shthuk_ as they sunk into the wood of a tree.

Now unable to free his right hand, the large man snarled angrily and swung with his left towards her face.

Sidestepping as she went, Piper took hold of his thigh and bicep and twisted him around, dropping him to the ground after hearing a sickeningly audible _clic_ from his right elbow.

A snarl of rage and pain followed and she was up another tree as fast as lightening, but not fast enough to avoid a long, jagged cut down her calf.

As she hoisted herself up to the highest branch, hissing at the flare down her leg, she could feel great heated waves of anger and frustration lapping over her from the man below.

She gripped her head tightly, trying her best to block the familiar twinges of old memories that came with the spillout.

_Lost again, sour milk, no money, get a jobnowhere to gocan'tstaycan'tdoanything…_

Piper slowed her breathing, trying to calm down so she could control the feral ability.

As the overpowering force in her skull throbbed down to a manageable level, she began to compress it into a tight coil, ready to burst like a spring-loaded trap.

"_Damnit, damnit, damnit…"_

She only had to hold down the force for a little longer, just a little longer and she could disperse it gently, without having to resort to drastic measures.

Suddenly, Kurt appeared out of nowhere directally beside her, hanging upside-down on the nearest branch in a cloud of sulfurous gas.

"You really shouldn't talk zike zhat," he grinned.

_*snap.*_

_All at once, several things happened._

_A pair of sharp silver claws ripped out of their confines, a spaded blue tail appeared out of nowhere, and a great yell of release cleared the birds from the trees in a flurry of flustered wing beats._

_Over it all, a circle of energy billowed out to encompass the three figures, and like ripples on the surface of a lake, everything shuddered and fell still._


End file.
